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Obama, Will You Visit a Mosque Now?

I'll admit it. It makes me very happy to see Obama win, mainly because I do consider him to be, if not my Muslim brother, a member of the wider Muslim community. Yes, I do know that he is not a Muslim. (Obama went out of his way a few times to point this out.) But his father was Muslim, and, even if his father was non-practicing or atheist, he was still, to me, culturally and by tradition, a Muslim. I would consider someone like Obama, born to a Muslim parent, to be of Muslim heritage (and I don't mean to imply a "terrorist" heritage, but simply the partly-cultural, partly-genetic blessings of being of Muslim background). I take a great deal of pride in what is known in Islam as the umma, or the community of Muslims. To me, you don't have to be practicing Islam regularly to be my Muslim brother. Obama's Muslim heritage makes me feel like a member of my extended religious community is going to be in the White House.

I am just hoping that since the stigma of being Muslim, as it turns out, doesn't have as much of a bite as we thought it would, I think he can now go visit a mosque! I would like to personally invite Obama to visit the Colorado mosque I go to, which is frequented largely by African immigrants. Those immigrants were no doubt thrilled by his victory and played a role in his win in this swing state. I would like to see our new, talented president-elect turn a smear into a beauty mark!